


Senior Project Partners

by Lover_of_Fairy_Tails



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4933843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails/pseuds/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Heartfilia one of the most dedicated and excellent students at Magnolia High School just got paired with the biggest goofball slacker Natsu Dragneel for their senior year project. Will her grades go up in smoke or will the two become the best partners.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Six Weeks

August 25th - October 2nd

Lucy Heartfilia had a growing sense of anticipation welling up inside of her since the beginning of her senior year at Magnolia High School, and today all of it was coming to a head. It was now four weeks into the school year and the teachers were finally announcing the partners for the senior year project. How well you do on this project decides if you graduate with honors or not. The project is divided into five parts that have to be turned in every six weeks. Lucy being the embodiment of an excellent student has always made good grades, participated in extra-curricular activities, and all of the teachers love her. All she needs to be able to go to any college she wants is to do well on this project and graduate with honors.

When her homeroom teacher reached her name Lucy crossed her fingers and took a deep breath, "Ms. Heartfilia you will be partnered with Mr. Dragneel." She was stunned for a minute before she felt her mouth drop open and her eyes bulge out. She sat there looking like a fish trying to get her breathing in check for a few moments before she finally closed her mouth and began rapidly blinking. Hoping that she had just blacked out and only hallucinated being paired with one of the biggest goofball slackers in the whole school. Her eyes began scanning the room, but from the looks of her fellow classmates and the curious look on her teachers face she knew that she was out of luck. Accepting her fate she slowly turned towards the back of the classroom to look at her new partner and was horrified by what she saw. His head was down on his desk and he was clearly sound asleep. She felt her hands clench up in fists and she quickly turned back around. This had to be fixable there was no way she could be partnered with him for the most important grade of the whole year. She crossed her fingers with hope that she could repeal the decision.

"Please Headmaster Makarov there has to be some way to change my partner. This project is very important to me and there is no way that he is going to take this as seriously as I am." Lucy had gone strait from class to the headmaster's office to plead her case.

"I am sorry that you are unhappy with the arrangement, but all the names were chosen randomly. I pulled the names out of the hat myself." Headmaster Makarov explained as he pointed over his shoulder to a replica of the sorting hat from Harry Potter. Lucy wanted to face palm so hard, she couldn't believe that one of her favorite book series had a hand in betraying her. "Plus all the students have a partner already, and if I let you switch partners then I would have half the school in here trying to switch partners. There is nothing I can do," he finished with an apologetic look.

Lucy knew it would have been a long shot, but she had to try. "Thank you anyways," Lucy said dejectedly as she turned to leave his office.

"One last thing Ms. Heartfilia you are a very good student and I don't think you need to worry about doing well on this project no matter who your partner is, but I think Natsu might surprise you." Lucy glanced back over her shoulder and gave him a questioning look, but the headmaster just grinned at her.

Lucy left the office and made her way to her next class, contemplating what the headmaster could have meant about Natsu surprising her until lunchtime.

"So any luck?" Levy McGarden asked. Her best friend since kindergarten.

Lucy sat her tray of food down harshly on the table, "No he said if he lets me switch, then everyone will want to switch. He also said that Natsu might surprise me, which makes me think the old man is going senile."

"The only way he could surprise me is if he was awake during class," a loud voice rang. Lucy looked up to see Cana Alberona placing her tray of food down next to hers. They had meet in fourth grade after Cana stepped in and punched a boy who had been teasing Lucy; Cana got suspended for a week, but they had been friends ever since.

Levy nodded in agreement with Cana before her shoulders slumped, "At least you know who your partner is. Mine is Gajeel Redfox, I have never even heard of him."

"Juvia has," the long blue haired girl said as she sat down on the opposite side of the table. "We went to the same elementary and middle schools, but now he is in the work program so he only comes to school in the morning." Juvia Lockser had gone to West Magnolia Elementary and Middle school while Levy, Cana, and Lucy had gone to East Magnolia Elementary and Middle school. Levy and Lucy had met her in their freshman advanced placement English class and had all become fast friends. Juvia had been extremely shy in elementary and middle school; most kids had called her gloomy, but since she had become friends with them she has blossomed into a bright and bubbly person.

Levy groaned, "See Lu, it could be worse. You could have been partnered with someone who doesn't even go to school all day."

Lucy reached out and rubbed her back, "Aww I'm sorry Levy." She then looked to Juvia, "So who did you get partnered with?"

Her lips pouted for a second before she smiled, "I got partnered with Lisanna Strauss."

Levy perked up, "Really Lisanna? You are so lucky Juvia, she is so nice."

Juvia nodded with a slight smile then her lips pulled down into another pout, "But I really wanted to be partnered with my darling Gray."

All the other girls frowned at her. After loving Gray Fullbuster from afar since elementary school, they had finally begun dating that summer. Since then Juvia had wanted to be with him every possible second, insisting that he be invited along to everything they went to. After spending so much time with him that summer they found that he was actually a good friend, although they weren't sure if he was the best boyfriend for Juvia. Lucy did not get was why Juvia was so smitten with him, when he seemed so indifferent towards her. "Maybe that is a good thing, it will be the one thing you do without Gray this year."

"What will she be doing without me?" Gray asked as he sat down beside Juvia.

Juvia immediately pepped up and flung her arms around him, "Lucy says it is a good thing that we are not project partners."

Gray shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe so, Lisanna will make a really great partner."

Juvia looked like Gray had just slapped her, "Don't you want to be Juvia's partner?"

"Sure but all that really matters is that you do well on it, and with Lisanna as your partner you will."

Juvia practically beamed at his words, "You are so sweet." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Lucy did not understand how what he said was sweet, but guessed Juvia knew him better than she did. "So Gray who is your partner?" She asked.

He grimaced, "I got partnered with Erza."

The girls all loudly sucked in their breaths; Erza Scarlett the beautiful redhead and also the head of the schools disciplinary committee. Everybody in the school referred to her as the Titania, even teachers, because her rules were law and she did not tolerate them being broken.

"It will be fine, I have know her since we were little kids," Gray said knowing exactly what they were thinking.

"Oh that's right you went to she same elementary and middle schools," Lucy said. Gray, Erza, Juvia, Lisanna and apparently this Gajeel guy had all gone to the same schools before they all merged into one high school. This reminded Lucy of another certain someone who had gone to their schools, "So that means you know Natsu right?"

Gray looked up at her and shrugged, "Yeah I know him, he's kinda my best friend."

"So you can tell me about him, he is my partner for the project?" Lucy asked hopefully.

Gray winced, "That sucks."

Lucy stared open mouthed at him for a moment before responding, "Seriously! You just said he was your best friend."

"He is, but he is also an idiot," he clarified.

Lucy dropped her head into her hands; if his own friend had thought he would be a bad partner she had no hope.

She heard Gray speak again, "He won't drag you down or anything. He just won't contribute much intellectually."

Lucy lifted her head and looked at him curiously, she was not sure if that was supposed to make her feel better or not.

Once school was over for the day Lucy was on her way over to her car when she saw a flash of pink in the corner of her eye. Turning she saw Natsu walking through the parking lot also. Not wanting to put off the inevitable she ran over to him, he must have heard her coming because he stopped and turned in her direction. When he saw her running towards him one of his eyebrows quirked up in confusion. Coming to a stop right in front of him she gave him her brightest smile and held out her hand, "Hi, I am Lucy Heartfilia."

At her sudden introduction his other eyebrow rose up and his face morphed from confusion to surprise. After a few awkward silent seconds he finally responded, "I know who you are."

Lucy dropped her hand, "Oh, well I just wanted to come over and introduce myself to you. Since we are going to be partners for the year."

His head tilted sideways and he began to scratch the back of his neck, "We are, for what?"

Lucy felt her jaw beginning to drop open but quickly clamped it shut. How could he have made it through the whole day and not heard people talking about the project? "They announced our partners for the senior project today, and we got paired up," she calmly explained.

His eyes widened in understanding, "Really, I though they were announcing those next week."

Lucy had the sudden urge to slam her palm into her face again, what had she done to be cursed by fate. Oh right it wasn't fate it was the sorting hat. Composing herself she gave him the most polite smile she could muster and raised her hand again, "Well I look forward to working with you for the rest of the year."

This time Natsu did raise his hand to shake hers, which he did so vigorously that it shook her entire body. "Me too this is going to be fun." He gave her a huge grin that showed off the majority of his teeth. Lucy was struck by how dazzling his smile was.

 

Two weeks went by and Lucy heard nothing else from Natsu, every day that passed infuriated her more and more. The project started next week, and the first part was divided into five parts and had something due every week. Although all the parts seemed like they were going to be easy, she wanted to get started as soon as possible.

Lucy was currently having lunch with her friends who had all at least discussed starting their project with their partners. Even Levy was having an easier time, and Gajeel was pretty standoffish. She couldn't take it anymore, Lucy slammed her hands down on the table and stood up, "I can't stand this anymore I am going over there and talking to him."

As she walked away she heard Cana give her a cheer.

When she reached his table he was sitting with some people she recognized, like Erza and Lisanna, but most people she didn't. Now that she was standing in front of their table she had lost all of her bravado, "Umm Natsu."

Everyone stopped talking and looked up at her. "Hey Lucy," Natsu said with his bright grin.

She smiled politely back at him, "I came over because I think we should start working on our first part of the project soon."

Natsu tilted his head to the side, "Really don't we have like six weeks before it's due?"

A hand darted out and slapped him in the back of the head; Lucy turned and saw that is had been Erza's. "You should pay more attention in class! The first part has something due every week, and it's only five weeks long this period. And you," Erza turned her stern gaze upon Lucy, "You are going to have to tell him exactly what he needs to do, and if he gives you any more trouble just let me know."

Lucy had watched the scene with wide eyes; she nodded her head at Erza then looked at Natsu who was still rubbing his head. "Okay then we should meet in the library after school on Monday," she stated trying to mimic Erza's stern look.

Natsu stopped rubbing his head and looked up at her, "Okay, I'm all fired up."


	2. Second Six Weeks - (Part 1)

October 5th -16th

Lucy was tapping her pen nervously on her binder as she sat alone in the library Monday after school. As soon as classes ended she had gone strait there, but that was twenty minutes ago. Knowing what little she did about Natsu it was entirely possible that he had forgotten over the weekend and gone strait home, and she hadn't gotten the chance to remind him earlier that day. So now she was wishing she had done like her other friends and exchanged numbers with her partner, since now would be a great time to call him.

Deciding enough time had passed and that her time could be better spent doing homework or writing at home she began to gather her things. Just as she slung her backpack over her shoulder she heard a loud "Lucy" from across the library. She quickly twisted around and saw Natsu running towards her with hands waving madly in the air and a big silly grin over his face.

Dropping back down in her chair with a huff she began to pull her stuff back out. Once Natsu finally reached the table, after being stopped and scolded by the librarian, he sat down across from her, "Sorry I'm late. I had made it halfway home before Erza called and reminded me about today."

So he had forgotten.

"Well I am glad Erza remembered. Anyways I don't want to be here late so we should get started," Lucy said hastily.

Natsu nodded and bent over to rummage around in his backpack. When he came back up he was holding a balled up piece of paper; which he placed down on the desk and began to smooth out.

Lucy wrinkled her nose when she saw that it was the first part of the project. She mentally crossed her fingers hoping that he would put more care into the remainder of the project. She then opened her binder and pulled out her paper from its protective sleeve, "So the first part is just a questionnaire to help us get to know each other better."

Natsu nodded his head as he scanned his own paper, so she continued, "There are twenty questions and we are supposed to fill them out for each other. It looks like the first four questions are very basic: name, age, gender, and date of birth"

Before she was ready Natsu began shouting out his answers for the first questions. Lucy had to hurriedly grab her pen and write them down. Once she finished writing she began to answer the questions herself, waiting for him to write each answer before she moved on to the next.

"Question five who do you live with?"

"I live with my dad Igneel, my mom Grandeeney, my sister Wendy, and my cat Happy," Natsu answered her.

Lucy arched an eyebrow at him wondering if she should really include his pet cat as one of his family members. Deciding it couldn't hurt, hopefully, she jotted it all down. Then started contemplating how she should answer the question, since her living situation was a little complicated. After a little wavering she gave the easiest answer she could, "I live with my father Jude Heartfilia."

"Just your dad?" Natsu asked her with a curious tilt of is head.

She was taken aback by his befuddled look, since lots of people only lived with one parent. Lucy wasn't sure she was ready to discuss her family situation with him, but then remembered this was supposed to help them get to know each other better. She knew her expression had morphed into a sad one, but she couldn't help it when she talked about her family, "Yes I only live with my father now, because my mother passed away when I was ten."

Natsu got very still, eyes wide, and mouth opening slightly at her answer. His mouth closed as his head dropped down so that he was staring at the table, "My real mom died too. Grandeeney is actually my step mom and Wendy is my half-sister."

Lucy felt herself mimicking Natsu's previous expression, since she was clearly not expecting that reaction from him. She opened her mouth to say something, but Natsu quickly cut in, "She died before I was even one so I don't remember her at all. Grandeeney has been in my life since I was young, and I really do see her as my mom." He paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking of the right words to say. With a small shrug he continued, "It's sad that I never got to know her, but I'm sure it isn't anything like losing your mother after ten years."

Lucy's felt her jaw clenching as she tried to hold down the sudden surge of emotions that had risen in her chest. She really hadn't expected something Natsu said to make her feel so much. She felt the sadness that was always there when she thought about her mother; yet she also found his words comforting, since it wasn't the usual hollow sorry for your loss condolences. Realizing she had been gazing softly at him for a while, she quickly looked down at the questionnaire in hopes of avoiding awkwardness. "Oh it looks like you already answered this one. It's asking about pets, unless you have any more?"

Natsu instantly perked back up, "Nope, just Happy."

Lucy quickly rewrote his cats name under pets before answering herself, "Well I have a dog name Plue."

Natsu began to bounce in his chair while jotting down her answer. "So what kind of dog is it?" He asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure, but it is small and white," Lucy told him since she had adopted the dog from a shelter and she was pretty sure it was a mutt. "Anyways question number seven," she said hoping to keep him on track, since it seemed he was starting to get distracted.

"Friends?," Natsu read out from the sheet.

Lucy tapped her pen on her cheek, "Hmm, that is kind of an odd question. I guess it just wants us to list our friends."

"I'll go first," Natsu blurted out eagerly. "I'm friends with Lisanna, Mirajane, and Elfman….." his enthusiasm dropped as he trailed off and began to scratch his head. He suddenly snapped his fingers, "Oh these two juniors are pretty cool their names are Rogue and Sting. They sit with us at lunch." He scrunched up his face as he went back to thinking, "I guess Gajeel although really he is just my cousin."

"What about Gray? He told me you were his best friend." Lucy asked trying to help out.

"Tch, more like rival," Natsu answered as Lucy added Gray's name to his list.

"And what about Erza you eat lunch with her everyday?"

Natsu blanched, "Were not friends though."

"Sure," Lucy said sarcastically as she added Erza to the list. She then placed her pen down and held up her hand. "I'm friends with Levy, Cana, Juvia, a junior Yukino, and I guess Gray also," she said as she ticked the names off on her fingers.

Natsu began to write down her answers. "Oh and me," he said once he had gotten to the end of her list.

"And you what?" Lucy asked unsure of what he meant.

"I'm your friend now too," he said with an expression that read 'obviously'.

"Umm. No offense but this is like the third time we have talked. Can we really count as friends?" Lucy asked not sure of what qualified a friend in Natsu terms.

"Of course. Plus we're only going to get to know each other better as the year goes on," he stated as he added his name to her list.

"I guess so," Lucy said with a shrug as she jotted down her own name.

Once she finished she read off the next question, "What extra curricular activities are you in?"

"None," Natsu excitedly answered.

Lucy gave him a curious look, "Why do you seem so excited to not be involved in anything?"

A smug expression came across his face, "Because I have so much free time, I can go home and do whatever I want."

"You mean after you do all of your homework," Lucy corrected pointedly.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Yeah sure."

"Well I am the head writer for the news paper club," Lucy said hoity.

Natsu gave her a blank stare, "I didn't even know the school had a newspaper."

Lucy's mouth dropped open, how oblivious could he be. "Of course it does," she said in a raised voice that was slightly to loud for the library. Quieting herself some, "You should read it. We put a lot of effort into them."

"Okay-okay, I promise to read your newspaper from now on," Natsu said placating her.

"Good," Lucy replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Anyways, so question nine how do you spend your free time?" Natsu read off the paper. "This is an easy one I usually just hang out, sleep, and play video games. Oh and eat of course." He answered.

"Well I like to read, write, and spend time with Levy, Cana and Juvia," Lucy responded as they both wrote down the answers.

"Finally last question what are your plans for the future?" That seemed like a loaded question to Lucy, "Wow this could be a really long answer."

"They probably just want to know if you plan on going to college or not and what you want to be," Natsu corrected.

"In that case I want to go to Fiore University in Crocus and major in Literature so that I can be a writer," Lucy answered with a sparkling smile.

"Wow that sounds really awesome," Natsu said enthusiastically then admitted. "I don't know what I want to do."

Lucy's eyes bugged out, "What do you mean you don't know? You are going to college right?"

Natsu just shrugged.

"You only have a few months left to decide before applications are due." She could not even believe that a senior in high school didn't at least know if they wanted to go to college or not.

Natsu shrugged again, "Well I might want to be a firefighter, like my dad."

Lucy breathed a little easier knowing that he at least had some idea. Then suddenly realized that she had been pretty worried about Natsu's future. Although she was unsure why, since it wasn't like what he did in the future would affect her in anyway. "That's a good career. I still think they have to have some kind of secondary education."

Natsu nodded his head in agreement, "My dad is the Fire Chief of Magnolia so I hear a lot about it. They usually go to a technical school and get training in all kinds of things."

"Okay then firefighter it is," Lucy said as she filled in their last question.

"That's all," she said as she began to put away her things. "We got this one out of the way early, but we should meet again soon so we can begin work on outlining our report plan."

Natsu shoved his paper back into his backpack, "Sounds good Lucy, see ya later."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Natsu."


	3. Second Six Weeks - (Part 2)

October 19th - 23rd

“What are you looking for?” Levy asked Lucy, who’s eyes had been searching around the cafeteria since they sat down for lunch.

“I’m looking for Natsu we’re supposed to be meeting up after school, but I haven’t seen him all day,” Lucy said discouragingly. Which meant he must be absent, and that would mean putting off work on their project for a day. She really didn’t expect it it to take more than one day for this part, but she wanted to have plenty of time in case something happened.

“He’s here today,” Gray informed her. “He just has lunch detention and he missed first period that’s probably why you haven't seen him.”

Lucy visibly perked up, happy that they would get to start on time. Then she remembered why she had been looking for him and sighed, “I was actually looking for him so that I could remind him about our meeting today, since I usually don’t see him after lunch.”

“After the reprimanding Erza gave him for forgetting last time and making you wait twenty minutes, I doubt he will forget again,” Gray said with a slight shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature of the cafeteria.

“That was pretty brutal,” Cana added, “I sure as hell wouldn’t forget again.”

Everyone at the table solemnly nodded in agreement thinking back to last Tuesday when Erza had publicly berated Natsu during lunch. Lucy had even been pulled into the humiliation when Erza made Natsu apologize to her in front of everyone.

Hoping that everyone would be right, and he would remember; Lucy went back to eating her lunch.

It turned out that like usual Lucy did not see Natsu for the rest of the day. Deciding it was best to wait, and not miss him by running around the school looking for him; she made her way to the library. She had nearly reached the doors when she heard a familiar voice call out to her, “Hey Lucy.” She turned and found her partner hurrying towards her.

Breathing out a sigh of relief she stopped and let him catch up with her. “Hey Natsu, I’m glad that you didn’t forget this time,” Lucy only half teased.

His face blanched and he got a vacant look in his eyes, she imagined he was remembering the horrible experience, “Like I would forget again after that.”

Lucy couldn’t help the playful smile that spread across her face at the way his whole body had shuddered as he said ‘that’. She started walking towards the library entrance again, but soon noticed that Natsu hadn’t followed her. He was still standing in the same spot, but was now staring out a window. When he finally noticed she was waiting for him he gestured outside, “Let’s work in the courtyard instead of the stuffy library.”

Lucy pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, she loved the library it was one of her favorite places. She was about to go into a lecture on how amazing libraries were, and certainly not stuffy, when she noticed the expectant look on his face. Recalling how many times the librarian had glared at them last time, she decided it probably was a better environment for him to work in and agreed.

They set up on an umbrella covered picnic table, “So all we have to do today is pick out a topic for our report, but I think we should also start to think about how we want to divide the work.”

“What do you mean divide the work, aren’t we supposed to do it together?” Natsu asked in a worried tone.

“The report has to be at least six pages long. So instead of working on it all together usually people divide the workload up. For example one person might write the introduction and the first pages, while the other person writes the second half and the conclusion. I have also heard of one person doing all the research and making an outline, and their partner writes the actual paper.” 

Natsu seemed to be unsure. Finally he said, “But we could do it together. I mean there is no rule saying we have to divide it up, right?”

Lucy huffed a little, it seemed to her like he was trying to get out of doing half the work. “You are right there is no rule that says we have to divide the work up, but I think it would be best,” she said with a tone of finality hoping he would agree. Instead he looked like he was about to argue again, so she continued, “If we don’t we are going to have to spend a lot of time in the library researching and writing Every. Single. Thing. When we could each do half the work in half the time.”

Natsu’s shoulders slumped in defeat. If Lucy thought it was best to divide up the work then she was probably right. Afterall she is one of the smartest people in the school, “Okay, spending less time researching in the library does sound good. So which half should I do?”

“Well first let's pick a topic then we can divide it up,” Lucy said as she shuffled through her papers. “They gave us a long list of topics to choose from. How about we both pick three and decide from there.”

Natsu agreed and they sat in silence for awhile reading from the list and picking the three topics they found most interesting.

When Lucy had finally picked three she looked up and saw that Natsu was staring at her. From the way he didn’t even blink when she looked back at him she could tell he had been staring for awhile now. She felt a faint blush creeping across her cheeks, although she was not sure if it was from his intense gaze or embarrassment over the fact that she had made him wait so long. “If you are ready you can go first,” she said trying to snap him out of it.

“Huh,” Natsu said as he began to blink. He had been waiting for her to pick her topics for so long that he had completely zoned out. Realizing she was now waiting on him to read off his topics he looked down at his list. “Okay first one, do video games really have an adverse effect on youths? Second, what do historians know about ninjas? And finally my favorite, is it possible that dragons ever existed and how do you think they would affect our world if they were real?”

Lucy could hear herself internally sighing as he read off his choices. Since those had been some she initially crossed off her list, and she had found it hard to cross most of them off her list. She cleared her throat in hopes he wouldn’t hear any objections in her voice, “Interesting choices. I found it hard to pick just three and it did take a lot of narrowing down. These were just such great topics.” She looked up and noticed Natsu was giving her a ‘are you serious right now’ look, “Anyways for my first one, what was the women’s suffrage movement and how did it change america? Second, is printed media being phased out by electronic media? And lastly, when and by who were the constellations named, and discuss why they were given those names.”

Natsu had scrunched up his nose, “No offense Lucy, but all of your choices sound really boring.”

Lucy scoffed loudly, “Well all of your choices are stupid.”

She took a deep breath in hopes of calming down. It really should not have offended her that Natsu thought her choices were boring, she had disliked his equally as much. “We are just too different we will never be able to agree. We might as well just point at one randomly.”

“That’s cool with me,” Natsu agreed as he closed his eyes and circled his hand above the paper, before bringing it down.

Lucy read off the topic he had pointed to, “What was the code of the Bushido and how did it affect the samurai warriors?”

“Awesome,” Natsu chimed.

“Hmm,” Lucy thought for a moment. “Studying Japanese history does sound fun.”

“So how do you want to divide it?” Natsu asked.

“Are you better at writing introduction or conclusions?” Lucy asked him in return.

Natsu tilted his head to the side and began to scratch the back of his neck. Which Lucy had learned to take as a sign that he had no clue.

“Maybe I should write both of those,” she mused out loud to herself. “Since they are very important and if they are not done well it will make the whole paper look bad.”

“If it is that important, then maybe you should do them and all the ones that go inbetween also,” he said with a sly smile.

“Haha very funny,” Lucy said in a mocking tone. “But you are not getting out of this. You will write some of the body paragraphs also.”

Suddenly Natsu got a very excited look on his face, “Since we divided it up, does that mean we are done for this week?”

“Well yes, but I will probably go home and start to outline what our body paragraphs will cover tonight. Then tomorrow or sometime you can pick which ones you would like to write, so we will know exactly which ones we will be working on.”

As soon as Lucy said yes Natsu had started to pack up his bag, but had stopped and was now staring at her with an open mouth, “You know the report isn’t due until next six weeks right. Why would you want to get started so early?”

Lucy began to put away her papers and pack up her bag also. “I know I just like being prepared. Plus I am not going to be writing anything yet, just getting some ideas of what we could write about,” she tried to explain to him.

Natsu had just slung his backpack over his shoulders and was walking out of the courtyard. He spun around to face Lucy who was still at the table, “You know what I think Lucy?”

“What?”

“I think you’re a weirdo,” he answered with a cackle then quickly ran around the corner of the building towards the parking lot. 

He was halfway to where he had parked when he heard her yell back, “No I’m not”.


	4. Second Six Weeks - (Part 3)

October 26th - 30th

"Hey weirdo," Lucy heard a deep voice greet her. She looked up from unpacking her backpack and saw Natsu standing beside her desk with a playful smile. "How long did you stay up last night 'researching' our topic?"

Lucy humphed at the way he used air quotes around the word researching, "I did only 'research' last night," she answered with her own sarcastic air quotes. "And I didn't stay up that long. Here I will show you." She bent back down to reach into her backpack.

Natsu leaned over her trying to see what it was she was going to show him. She popped back up with her project binder in hand and opened it up to the research paper tab. What he saw then made his mouth drop open. She had typed out a few pages of her own research and printed out at least twenty articles on their subject.

She unclasped the binder and took all the pages out. "Here I printed all this for you, so that you can go through it and decide which parts you would like to write about."

He continued to stare dumbfounded at her as his arm robotically reached out to take the papers. Once the large stack was in his hands his brain started functioning again, "I thought you said you didn't stay up late working on this?"

"I didn't," she answered with a peppy voice. "I went home finished my homework then immediately started working on this. I went to bed around ten, just like always."

Natsu's eyes widened in astonishment, "You mean all you did after school was more schoolwork. You didn't watch t.v. or play games? Did you even eat?"

Lucy pursed her lips, "Of course I ate, I had a salad while I did the research."

Natsu couldn't even bring himself to say anything for a moment. He just stared at her, it was beyond him how someone could spend their entire day doing school work. Or eat a salad for dinner, but that was beside the point. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the teacher walk in to start their class. Knowing he really couldn't afford to get in trouble for disrupting class at the beginning of the day he began to walk back to his desk. A few steps away he stopped and looked back over his shoulder at Lucy, "Well that decides it."

"That decides what?" she asked.

"You really are a weirdo," Natsu answered as he hurried back to his desk.

Something he had learned from the short amount of time he spent with Lucy so far was that he really enjoyed how easy it was to fluster her with his teasing, and the way her face flamed red at his comment made the rest of his day.

lllll

It was the following Monday at lunch and today Natsu was supposed to be meeting with Lucy again after school to work on planning the next part of their project. This part was a video over their selected topic, but they had more freedom to chose how they presented the information. They had two categories to chose from, Natsu liked to think of them as the boring way and the fun way. The boring way was straight informational kind of like a documentary. The fun way, the way Natsu preferred, was to present your topic in the form of a short film that they wrote, directed, and acted in. All he had to do today was convince Lucy that the film would be best, but he could worry about that later.

Right now he was sitting at his usual table and had just started on his fourth slice of pizza when he over heard Erza and Lisanna start discussing the project. "I heard you and Juvia decided to make a movie and she wants Gray to be apart of it," Erza told Lisanna.

"Yeah we're doing our project on how trash in the ocean is harming marine life. So for the video we are going to ask people to be extras as fish and other things," Lisanna answered.

Erza suddenly stood up, "Since Gray is my partner I insist that I be a fish in the video also. La-La-La-La-La!"

Lisanna blanched, "O-of course Erza, I remember how great you were as the lead in our middle school play."

If Natsu remembered correctly Lisanna was either lying or was thinking of a different play, because Erza had gotten stage fright so bad she couldn't remember any of her lines. The whole play had gone terrible from start to finish, but it wasn't all Erza's fault he might recall that himself accidentally setting the curtain on fire might have attributed to it. Although he was pretty sure it was Gray's fault it happened.

He also remembered that all the practices and preparations with everybody had been a lot of fun, and even though Erza was a terrible actress they would probably have a lot of fun making the video together. That's when he got a great idea, "Hey we should all help each other with our videos."

Lisanna turned her attention to him, "Are you sure? Shouldn't you meet with Lucy first and find out what kind of video you will be making and if you will even need extra help?"

"I'm totally going to convince her to make a badass movie about Samurais and you can't do that with only two people," Natsu answered with a smirk.

Lisanna opened her mouth with a retort ready, but Erza cut in eyes shining, "Samurai! You mean I would get to wield a katana! Yes Natsu I think that is a splendid idea, we should all help each other with our videos."

Erza abruptly began to march towards the table Lucy and her friends sat at and Natsu and Lisanna jumped up to follow. Once she reached the table she slammed her foot onto an empty seat and raised her fist into the air, "It has been decided I will be a Samurai and also a fish!"

The whole table had jumped at Erza's sudden announcement and turned to stare at her with confused expressions. Gray knowing Erza the best out of everyone at the table spoke up first, "So what is happening?"

"Well Natsu thought it would be a good idea for all of us to work together on our videos, since we are most likely going to need extra help," Lisanna clarified as she pointed an accusatory finger at him.

Juvia, Levy, and Cana all perked up.

"Oh that sounds like it will be a lot of fun actually," Levy said happily

"Sounds like a party," Cana added.

Natsu noticed that Lucy was still looking a bit nervous. "So whatcha say weirdo, wanna make an awesome movie about Samurai?"

Her cheeks instantly blushed at his teasing, but a pensive expression crossed her face, "We haven't even decided if we are going to make a informational or short film yet." She looked up at Natsu's hopeful expression and Erza's excited face and instantly caved, "But I guess making an awesome movie about Samurais with everyone does sound like fun!"

Natsu wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not but right when she looked at him with her slight brush and happy little smile he felt a jolt in his chest.

"Then it's settled we will meet in the courtyard after school today and begin work," Erza proclaimed.

After their last class of the day Lucy, Levy, and Juvia walked together outside to meet with their partners. Once they reached the courtyard they saw that Erza, Gray, Lisanna, Cana, and her partner Hibiki Lates were already outside waiting on them. "Hello," they called in greeting.

Wanting to get right to work Lucy and Levy began to set up for their projects at the covered tables, while Juvia ran to greet Gray. A moment later the door slammed open and large man with long black hair and lots of facial piercings, like a lot of piercings even along his nose, stepped out. Right behind him Lucy spotted the pink hair of her partner.

"What the hell are you doing here Metal head, don't you only come to school half days now?" He yelled at the piercings guy.

"I'm here to work on my project Salamander, but I am surprised that you are here. I thought the school would have kicked you out by now."

Lucy gasped when Natsu slammed his forehead against the other guys, who in return pushed his head harder against Natsu's and made a deep growling noise in his chest.

Lucy was unsure of what was happening or what to do about it, she knew she didn't want to see Natsu get into a fight. She was just about to say something to Natsu when Erza called out, "What are you two doing we are here to work not play around."

The boys immediately sprung apart, Natsu raised his and and saluted Erza with an "Aye sir", but the other guy just shrugged and walked over to take a seat by Levy.

Lucy was stunned by the display she had just witnessed. What made it more unbelievable was that nobody else but Levy even seemed fazed by the near fight. When Natsu took the seat next to her she turned her shocked expression to him, "Were you about to get into a fight with that guy?"

Natsu's eyebrow quirked up. "What you mean Gajeel?" He asked as he jerked his thumb towards him. Lucy nodded. Natsu crossed his arms over his chest, lifted his chin in the air, and made a pfft sound, "It's nothin, We fight all the time."

"But you headbutted him. Didn't that hurt?" Lucy asked in concern as she reached out her hand and gently touched his forehead.

Natsu couldn't help the sharp intake of breath he took when he felt warm soft fingers brush against his skin. His eyes locked with Lucy's and she jerked her hand back, but he could still feel a tingling sensations of exactly where she touched him.

Lucy bent her head over her project binder and was thankful for her long hair, since it was helping to hide the blush that was spreading across her cheeks. This was the second time today that Natsu had caused her to blush, she couldn't remember a time before in her life that she had blushed this much. She also couldn't imagine what had come over her and caused her to practically caress Natsu's forehead.

She was relieved she wouldn't have to think about it any longer when Erza called everyone's attention, "Now that everyone is here we should start working."

"Thanks we really needed you to tell us that," Lucy heard Gajeel mumble out quite loudly.

"Okay so how are we going to make an awesome movie about Samurai and the Bushido Code?" Natsu asked.

His face was lit up in excitement and he even had his own pen and paper out for notes. It was the most enthusiastic Lucy had ever seen him look about doing school work and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her.

"What are you laughing about?" Natsu asked in an accusatory voice.

"I'm not laughing at you," she answered. "It's just the first time I saw you look so excited about doing school work and it is nice."

"Of course, I'm all fired up!"

"Me too!"

When Lucy had finished writing out a plan for their video she looked up and noticed the chaos ensuing around her. Natsu had gotten bored after Lucy started to discuss background scenery and was now rolling around on the ground with Gray and Gajeel in what must have been a fight, while Juvia stood to the side and cheered on her boyfriend. Cana was asleep, Hibiki was gone, and Erza was standing on top of a table practicing her vocals. Only Lisanna and Levy seemed to be working diligently still. She couldn't help but smile at the scene. Maybe this project would go much better than she imagined in the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> This is most likely going to be a slow updating six-parter.  
> The six parts will be updated during the six weeks the story takes place.


End file.
